Johansson has the 'Spirit,' and She's 'Just Not That Into You'

Say what you will about Scarlett Johansson's acting abilities (they've been questioned before), but there's not much to say about her ability to get roles. Ghost World wasn't her first gig (we can't forget Home Alone 3), but it helped her make a name for herself, and from there, she's been unstoppable. The path she took still surprises me. I had her pegged for the next Parker Posey, but instead, she's gone all over the map on small and big-budget films covering just about every area of life -- Lost in Translation, A Good Woman, The Island and now The Nanny Diaries. Although she already has a number of roles yet to wrap, like a stint in Woody Allen's Barcelona flick, The Hollywood Reporter is already listing more.

First up, she's adding another comedy to her roster by joining the ever-growing cast of He's Just Not That Into You. Get this -- she's going to play a pilates instructor and aspiring singer who has an affair with a married guy and thinks he'll leave his wife for her. I wonder if they'll include one of her covers in the film -- because yes, she sings too. However, I just don't know about this one (the movie, not the casting). I liked the Sex and the City episode the idea first surfaced in, where women are making excuses for absent male behavior, but I checked out the book and wasn't thrilled with it. From what we knowso far, it looks like yet another film about women acting foolishly for love, but hopefully these characters will have some more substance in them.

After she's done with that, Johansson is going to head to Frank Miller land for Will Eisner's The Spirit, which has been brewing since last year. Lionsgate is backing the film, with Samuel L. Jackson going for the role of Octopus and Gabriel Macht pinged to play The Spirit himself. (Sidenote: To tie this into Johansson's other role, Macht once played a modelizer on SaTC.) As for ScarJo, she's in final negotiations to play Silk N. Floss -- "a sexy and intelligent secretary with a vindictive instinct, making her the perfect accomplice to the Octopus, an evil mastermind." Production on this one is set to begin in the eerie month of October, but it won't come out until 2009.